In a semiconductor device assembly, an integrated circuit (IC) die (also referred to as a semiconductor chip or device) may be mounted on a packaging substrate. As logic and power density of IC dies increase, device cooling has become a more significant concern. Conventional cooling techniques, which depend on heat sinks on the backs of IC dies to transfer heat into streams of forced air, will not be able to meet the needs of power-hungry devices, especially in packages that pack more processing power into less space within IC dies. The power generated during high volume operation by such devices may reduce the overall cooling efficiency, and create localized regions of high temperature (i.e., hot spots), which may adversely affect the overall performance and reliability of the devices.